Originally Posted by pinkfloyd4ever
BTW, balanced cabling doesn't also mean balanced sources/amps/headphones, does it?
Yes, it does......that is one of the points of the Rane document about grounding vs. shielding. Balanced connections theoretically use (or can use) a true shield that is connected to chassis ground, not signal ground--which isn't necessary in a balanced connection, in which the signal is taken as the difference between the "hot" pin 2 conductor and the "cold" pin 3 conductor.
However, some makers wire pin 1 of an XLR to signal ground, which in most gear does have a single point connection to chassis ground.....which can result in hum from ground loops. In unbalanced cables, the signal ground and shield are the same when one uses a coax cable (center conductor is signal, the braid is both signal ground and "pseudo-shield", I guess.)
There are lots of debates over what the right method is.....one can run coax for unbalanced connections (Blue Jeans Cables) or DIY with balanced mic cable, or in the case of Kimber interconnects, use a braid without an external shield......and all of them work.
If you want to make unbalanced interconnects from Mogami, just tie the shield and ground together at the end you connect to the source and you should be fine......really. It's been working well for me.